Local Kurdish Broadcast Requests Ignored

In spite of a series of amendments in the Turkish constitution and related laws, as part of the Turkey’s EU accession bid, what legalizes broadcasts “in mother tongues other than Turkish” changes are yet to take effect in daily life.

Even 15 months after the “Rules and Regulations Regarding in Languages and Dialects other than Turkish” is in force, local media still faces troubles in broadcasting in mother tongues prevalent in their regions.

The Radio and Television Supreme Board (RTÜK) who regulates the audio-visual media affairs in Turkey, is yet to authorize Diyarbakir local Gün TV for broadcasting an arts and Culture program called "Dergûşa Çandî" (Cradle of Culture) in the Kirmanji dialect of Kurdish.

Kirmanji is one of the two major Kurdish dialects, spoken mostly among the Kurds of Turkey while Sorani is more widespread in Iraq.

Gün TV had to apply twice for bureaucratic reasons, but they are yet to receive a reply for their application in January.

"We will file a case"

Cemal Dogan, the chief editor of the channel, says that they regard the delay with mounting suspicion and they will be filing a case if the authorization is further delayed.

They believe that positive steps were taken in the first six months as the rules and regulations were enforced, says Dogan. But they were disillusioned by the fact that the legal changes did not have much impact over daily life.

Broadcasting in mother tongues other than Turkish was legalized in 2004 when legal harmonization packages with the European Union were adopted by the parliament.

However, private national media institutions have not paid much interest in broadcasting in languages other than Turkish. On the other hand, the public channel TRT, broadcasts in selected mother tongues since 7 June 2004. The Radio 1 and TV Channel 3 of the TRT broadcasts in Bosnian, Arabic, Kirmanji, Circassian and Zaza in weeks days for a short while. (EÖ/EÜ/ASÖ/EK/YE)